1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system and method for generating specs, and more particularly to an automated system and method for defining, creating, presenting, completing and processing user-defined generic specs.
2. Related Art
The present invention is directed toward specs. Typically, specs are used by a first party to fully specify requirements (i.e. products and/or services) that are to be provided by a second party. This enables the second party, not only to provide the precise requirements as requested by the first party, but also to provide the first party with an accurate price quotation for the request.
Specs are commonly used for example, in industry. One such example is the printing industry, where many options are available for each product offered by suppliers. Customers typically complete a spec, in one form or another, to receive a price quotation from a supplier.
Conventionally, designing and creating specs is a manual process performed by industry experts, often in an ad-hoc or improvised manner. For example, sales personnel are generally quite knowledgeable about the products they sell. Thus, when a sales representative takes an order from a customer, they generally know what questions to ask, what options to offer, and what options not to offer due to incompatibilities. This ad-hoc process often becomes an iterative process, when it is often determined at a later date, that a supplier needs additional details and/or clarifications before a price quotation can be provided.
In order to avoid these problems, a more systematic approach has been taken. Pre-defined specs are often created by suppliers. These pre-defined specs are generally in the form of questionnaires that are completed by customers, sometimes with the assistance of sales reps. These questionnaires ideally include all possible options available for each product.
For example, in the printing industry, a separate questionnaire or spec is typically required for each product. Thus, if a customer desires a price quotation for an annual report, for example, the customer completes the particular pre-defined spec specifically designed for annual reports. The pre-defined spec ideally guides the customer so that all of the details necessary for each option selected are fully specified.
This conventional process is problematic on many levels. One problem is that the printing industry, like many industries, is capable of providing thousands of products to customers. Therefore, creating and maintaining separate specs for each product can be extremely time-consuming and can be prohibitively expensive.
Another problem with this conventional method is related to the required maintenance of pre-defined specs. Specs often need to be changed due to the dynamic nature of most businesses. Routine changes to business processes can often affect one or more pre-defined specs. For example, new products or processes can be introduced and/or existing products or processes can be discontinued or modified. Even worse, changing a single vendor could affect a multitude of pre-defined specs. For instance, suppose a print supplier changes the vendor that provides, for example, ink or paper. This seemingly minor change could require a modification to thousands of specs across the board.
Another problem with conventional specs from a customer's perspective, is that each company typically maintains their own proprietary specs. Thus, when customers want to shop around and receive price quotations from multiple suppliers, they typically have to complete different and separate specs for each supplier, even though the exact same product is being requested.